Bell , Book and Candle

By DocPaul

Chapter Seventeen:  A myriad of possibilities…

Max was walking Emma back and forth. She was still crying. A little distressed, he tried talking to her, but it didn’t seem to help.

“Want some help?” Liz asked softly.

Max looked over at the door relieved to see her. “Please! I tried everything.”

“Bottle?” Max nodded. “Hmm, diaper?”

“Dry.” Max looked at his daughter. She was so tiny and delicate. “Maybe she hates me?”

Liz laughed. Max Evans vulnerable and uncertain, was an interesting sight. “I doubt that.” Liz took the baby. “Hi, Princess. Did you miss, Mommy? Aww, all that crying. Let’s see.” Liz put Emma on her shoulder and patted her back. “Maybe it’s a little bit of air making her uncomfortable?”

“I tried that. She already burped.” Liz smiled and kept it up and until Emma gave a loud burp.

“There! All better.” Liz kissed her daughter and passed her back to Max. “She had a little extra to give.” Liz picked up few pieces of clothing off the nursery floor and put them into the laundry basket. “Thanks for babysitting tonight. You didn’t have to.”

Max made faces at his daughter. “It’s okay. I don’t mind spending time with Emma. Or you,” said Max softly. Liz blushed a little. Trying to cover it up, she smiled.

“Maybe I should put her down.”

“Let me. I rarely get to do it.” Liz nodded. Leaving him alone with Emma, she went to look for something to eat. It was a short time before Max left the nursery and found her eating a salad.

“You should eat more. You’ve looked thin since Emma was born.”

“That’s because you were used to seeing me fat when I was pregnant.”

“I don’t remember the fat part.”

Liz laughed. Hell, she had the damn pictures to prove it. “Liar.” Liz put her fork down. “Thanks, Max. Really, you didn’t have to come over. Isabel was going to watch her.”

“Isabel had a date with my ex-friend, Alex.” Max said sourly.

“Still on that kick? When are you going to get over Alex and Isabel dating?”

Max paused as if he were thinking about it, “Oh….never.”

“He’s good for her. I don’t think she would’ve ever gone into counseling if Alex hadn’t found a way to talk her into it.”

Isabel’s eating disorder had come as a shock to all of them. It was proof of how much all of them had been so involved in their own lives that they missed the obvious signs. Alex had an inkling, but it took Maria and Tess, two outsiders, new people to their group, to really see it. It was months after Maria gave Isabel the card, before Isabel finally called the number.

“He spent his entire life walking around with women on his arm. How demoralizing was that for Isabel? Watching him? Seeing the kind of women he liked?”

“Don’t tell me you’re blaming Alex? I don’t believe it.”

Max rolled his eyes. “Okay, not really. Dammit, Liz, she’s my sister. I’d like her with someone a little less….experienced…um...hounddoggish.”

Liz laughed. “Well, I’m tired. Thanks for watching Emma.”

Max sighed. He didn’t want to leave. They were talking. That was a good step for them. “Emma and I watched you on the news tonight.”

Liz smiled. “Really?”

Max nodded. “We taped you.” Max went over and picked up a tape. “I think we should start a file of your broadcasts so Emma can see your career unfold. It’s good for a girl to have a strong role model in her life. It shows them they can do anything.”

Liz took the tape he offered him. “Thank you.”

“She recognized your voice immediately.”

“You’re making that up.” Her three week old daughter could barely roll over.

“No. I’m not. As soon as you started speaking, she turned to the TV.” Max licked his lips nervously. “You looked beautiful. Real good, Liz. You did a great job!”

Liz stared at him for a moment. It had been a long time since he complimented her or even made her feel like he noticed her. Clearing her throat, she smiled slightly. “Well, thanks.” Max took the hint to leave, after she shut the door, he couldn’t leave it like that. Knocking he waited for her to answer the door again.

“Max? Was there something?”

Max searched her face, and shifting a little on his feet, he smiled. “I was thinking that maybe this Saturday, if you’re not busy, that we could take Emma to the zoo?”

Liz leaned against the door jam. Biting her lip a little, she pulled back a smile. “Emma might be a little young for the zoo, but I guess you can’t start too young in learning.”

“So, it’s a date?”

Liz nodded. “Yeah. A date.” Max smiled and walked away looking back to wave as she watched him.

~~~

“So what are we drinking to?” Alex said. His beer kept disappearing.

“Nothing in particular. Just a pre-pre-bachelor party for Michael.” Max said casting a disapproving look at Alex. Why did they have to invite him to their pity party? “Where is the soon-to-be married man anyway?”

“Peeing.” Alex said with a burp. “I can’t believe I gave up an evening of watching Isabel shop for this.” Isabel shopping was a good thing. She was interested in clothing and her looks for the first time, in a positive way. Alex smiled slightly when he noticed Max’s sour face at the mention of his sister. “I forgot to tell you that I was thinking of inviting Isabel to move in with me.”

“The hell you are!” Michael came up behind Max and pushed him back in his seat.

“Cool your jets, he’s just pushing your buttons.” Michael sat back down. “Where the hell did my drink go?”

They all looked over to the bar. Kyle. He was over there getting them more. He must have felt their eyes on him because he turned around and waved. The three of them all groaned.

“Why did we have to bring him again?” Max asked.

“Bridal thing or something.” Michael looked for some more peanuts. All gone too. Kyle. The boy was a glutton. “Tess made me bring him. She’s worrying that he’s overcompensating. All he does is work now. She likes that he has a job and seems happy, but she hadn’t expected him to become a total dud.”

Alex and Max snickered. Tess and Kyle were a running joke among them. The two were happily sparring like old fighting partners, and when they weren’t trying to out maneuver and manipulate the other, they were engaged in wild and crazy donkey sex. The braying was driving Michael insane.

“How is therapy, Michael?” Alex asked.

“I could ask you the same.” Michael said. Alex started therapy to understand and deal with a person in his life with an eating disorder. Michael reached up to nab his beer from Kyle. “About time, brat! Don’t think I don’t know who drank my last one.”

“Stop pissing and moaning. You’re upset because Maria kicked you out tonight.”

“Do I see you there?”

Kyle smiled smugly. “I got an invite to the party actually.”

Michael snickered in his beer. “Tess tried to talk him into being the male stripper. Her theory is that all male strippers in San Francisco are gay, and she figured that at least with Kyle, she knew she’d get lucky.”

The group was laughing calling Kyle a slut and easy. “Hey,” said Kyle, “that is so not true! I’d made her stuff a few fins in my G-string first!”

Alex didn’t like the sound of that. “So what did they get?” Isabel was at that damn party. There better not be some half nude, or worse, nude nude male there with oiled down skin.

“No clue.” Michael stretched. “I don’t know what women do at those things. Showers? Sounds like they get all wet. I do know that they do tend to get some very interesting lingerie.”

“Well, there is that.” Max said. “Liz and I never got far enough for her to have a bridal shower.” Max looked mournfully into his beer.

Alex hit Michael, “What’s wrong with him?”

“Six months. He thought he’d be further along in his campaign to get Liz back by now. So far he got a few dinners and now a date to take Emma to the zoo.” Michael sipped his beer. “Liz is being pretty hard to convince. She’s not the same old pushover. Add in her newfound success, and you got one unhappy Max.”

“Loser,” said Alex.

Max gave Alex an expressive finger. “Shut up, Alex. I don’t see Isabel committing to a relationship with you.” Max said, slightly drunk and very smug. “She’s put you off for a while now.”

“That’s fine. Isabel can take all the time she wants. As long as she’s healthy, I’m fine.”  Alex ignored all the awing and cries of ‘Wuss!.’ He used to have a different perspective on life, fun, and partying. Isabel Evans changed that for him. Now he was more concerned with his future. The lack of partying and new women in his life was barely missed. At first it bothered him. Maybe he was getting old. Then he’d go pick up Isabel for a date, see her smile, and it really didn’t matter that much. He could wait. Some things were worth it.

“No, really, Michael. Are you feeling better?” Alex asked.

Kyle looked at his brother’s stoic face. “No, he’s not.”

“Shut up, Kyle.”

Max looked at Michael, and turned to Kyle. “No, tell us, Kyle. We’ll protect you. What’s going on behind that stone wall?”

Kyle looked at his brother. Shrugging, he sipped his beer. “He’s afraid Maria will leave him at the altar. He has a terrible track record of his fiancées changing their mind at the last minute.”

“Why would she do that?” Alex asked. This was the first engagement of Michael’s he actually felt good about. There was no doubt in his mind, that Michael would make it all the way this time. Though Alex did have the best man’s announcement that the bride has changed her mind speech ready just in case. He had that one down.

Michael drank his beer, but his eyes met Max’s. Max knew why. He had read Maria’s history. It was an unspoken thing between all of them. Michael continued to see Jake, but he took Jake’s advice, and he didn’t tell Maria he knew. He was waiting for her to tell him, when she could…in her own way, and in her own time. It was the anxiety. What if she decided at the last minute that she couldn’t take the chance?

Alex snorted in his beer. “Well, here we all are again! Losers at relationships, and no further along than the last time. I don’t know. I think my potential as a good catch has improved. Evans still sucks seeing how he’s mooning over his lost love and has a baby. What woman would want to date him, with him whipping out pictures of Emma and Liz? Michael’s out of the running since he’ll be a married man in about ten days. And I can say my heart is spoken for. So what are we all doing here brooding in our beers?”

Good question. Maybe it wasn’t going fast enough? They were always the ones calling the shots in their relationships, and suddenly all of them were walking at a pace determined by the women in their lives. One thing they all agreed on, the pace was too slow.

Kyle looked at the other three. “If it’s any consolation, my love life is going great!” He quickly ducked under the table to dodge a barrage of peanuts.

~~~

They were noisy coming in. Maria missed it at first since she was showering. It was Tess’s voice laughing at Kyle that alerted her that the boys were home. They had split up the households. Tess spent a lot of time at Kyle’s place, and unsurprisingly Michael was often at Maria’s. His Pacific Heights home made her uncomfortable. Michael figured it was because it reminded her of her home in Chicago . Tonight, Michael brought the drunk Kyle home with him, and Tess was trying to put him to bed in a Vaudeville comedy act.

“Hey.”

Michael turned at her voice, and smiled at her. She was still wet. Her dressing gown clung to her skin, and her hair was wispy at her neck, clinging to the moisture.

“Hi.” Michael kissed her sloppily. “How was the getting wet, showery thing?”

Maria laughed pushing his stinky body away. “Shhh. Your voice is really loud.” Patting him on the stomach. “I’ll show you later. There’s this little red number, and I mean….little, that you will just love.”

“You don’t have it on, do you?”

Maria laughed slapping his grabby hands down as he tried to open her robe and peek. “Sorry, no. I am pretty bare here.”

“Let me see,” Michael said in a whisper that wasn’t much of a whisper. He leaned his head against her. “Tired.”

Maria laughed. Taking his hand she pulled him to their bedroom. “C’mon. I’ll put you to bed. First, a bath!” Damn, he smelt like he rolled around in a vat of beer! It took some maneuvering, but she finally got him out of the bath and into bed. Rolling him on his stomach, Maria lit candles around the room, and warmed an essential oil in her hand. Straddling his hips, she began rubbing his tired tensed muscles.

“How can you be so tense after drinking yourself sick?”

“Who said I drank myself sick?” Michael asked as he moaned. That felt good.

“So you’re not drunk?”

“As a skunk.” That was definitely funny. Michael chuckled into the pillow he was hugging. “But, I’m not sick! I almost feel good.”

Maria noted the almost. Frowning, she continued to massage his back. “So why are you so tense?”

Michael sighed and looked over his shoulder. “Bad day.”

Maria lifted up to let him roll over on his back. “Anything I can do to make it better?” She asked casually as she poured more oil in her hands and rubbed it across his chest.

Michael smiled, his hand plucking at the front of robe. “You could take that off.” His eyebrow lifted suggestively. “Is this supposed to be relaxing me?”

“Uh huh.”

“Hmm, it’s not working.”

“Maybe my technique is off?”

“Not from where I’m sitting.” Michael sat up a little and kissed her. “ I’m definitely not relaxed in some places. I would actually say that I am horny.”

Maria sat back. “And this is supposed to be news to me?”

Ready to make a comment, Michael paused when he heard something. Rolling his eyes, he looked towards the door. “Oh geez! Don’t even tell me!” Maria laughed at the noise coming from Tess’s room. “Damn, I don’t need to hear this!” Michael covered his head with a pillow. “God! I must have been bad for someone to curse me with Kyle!”

Ripping it away, Maria leaned down. “Oh, it’s only fair. We kept Tess up a few nights. Plus, she seems to like to toss Kyle around a bit to whip him in shape. I think he likes it too. All those ‘Yeah, babys!’ have to mean something.”

Michael removed the arm he had across his eyes. Staring at Maria, he made a face. “I am filing this in the ‘too much information’ file! It’s bad enough that I have the new and improved Kyle-clone working in my office. His new work ethic is giving me indigestion.”

“They have a bet. If he wins, he gets to pick the vacation spot.”

“Oh great, so he’s using me! Does it occur to Tess that making all these competitive bets with him is hardly good therapy for a recovering gambler?”

Maria kissed his nose. “He’s being good. What more do you want?” Michael complained a lot about having Kyle around all the time, but Maria suspected he was secretly pleased. His childhood had been lonely. He was making up some missed time as irritated older brother with a pest of a younger brother. The two had come to an understanding of sorts, and Maria knew Michael was considering making Kyle a partner in a few years. It seemed right to have a Valenti at Valenti’s Construction.

“Him to…” Michael didn’t bother to finish it. He really didn’t have any complaints. “You could kiss me better,” he suggested instead. Aw...a pouting Michael really pulled at the heartstrings.

Maria undid her robe, sliding it off her shoulders as she leaned down, hesitating a mere breath from his mouth, she nudged his lips with hers. “I could.” Michael wrapped his hand around her neck and pulled her mouth to his in a deep long kiss.

Combustion. Conflagration. Incineration. The stroke of Maria's tongue against his own was fiery, igniting every single nerve in his body. Desire raced through him, almost blinding in its intensity, shocking Michael with its strength. He was dimly aware of her hands moving over his back, his shoulders, his arms, worshipful, tracing the heaviness of muscle beneath his skin. Her small firm hands moving through the oil on his skin. The soft, needy sounds Maria made in the back of her throat traveled a direct path from his ears down to his groin, making him ache and throb, made his body demand fulfillment, resolution. He didn't think it possible to be so aroused by a sound, but there it was, undeniable, evident in the hot swelling of his flesh.

Maria broke for air, panting above him. Michael could feel her gasping, the heated movement of her breath against his throat. Her taste, warm and sweet, was still strong on his tongue.

“Addiction,” Michael said softly.

“What?” Maria frowned. She could hardly think.

“You feel like an addiction to me. From the first moment my mouth touched yours, I knew.”

Maria looked at him, her eyes were bright. “Knew what?”

“That I could kiss you forever, and it wouldn’t be enough.” Any hesitation, any thought this was somehow wrong, had long since fled his mind. He never felt this way, and it wasn’t easy. Afraid. Fear. He wanted Maria more than he'd ever wanted anyone else before. The depth of his need was frightening. It crashed through him like a tsunami, sweeping away everything before it. His fingers tightened in Maria's hair, pulling, tilting his head back to possess her again. Her sound of approval was lost as their mouths touched.

Time passed; seconds, minutes, hours, days, for all he knew or cared. All that mattered, all that was important in his world was the sweetness of Maria's mouth, the tantalizing seductiveness of his tongue twining with hers. Michael knew he was beginning to be rough as he tumbled deeper into a dark well of passion. The coppery taste of blood impacted on his senses, and he forced himself to come out of the sensual fog that threatened to overtake him completely. He'd cut her lip with his teeth; a small wound, and he licked at it, seeking to give comfort. Maria looked up at him, hazy, unfocused, lost in sensation and desire. Michael licked his lip and tried to pull away.

“No,” Maria said huskily and moved her mouth back to his. “Don’t go.”

“God, Maria.” Michael ended the kiss by putting his hands on her face and forcing her to look at him. “Marry me.”

“I thought that was the plan.”

“Tomorrow. Let’s elope.” Michael swallowed the slight panic rising in his throat. Damn. He was infected with the same anxiety that seemed to grip her at times.

Although she didn't want to do it, and her body screamed at her in outrage, Maria made herself pull away, settling back from him she sat up again, Michael's warmth was hot under her hands where they rested on his chest. Maria ran a hand over her face, and could smell the scent of Michael on her skin. She had to stop. Allowing time to collect herself, Maria breathed in slow deep breathes.

“What is it, honey? What’s wrong?” Her eyes were soft and gentle, understanding.

Michael closed his eyes a second, and he concentrated on remaining calm. His stomach hurt. Nerves. “I’m afraid.”

Maria moved a hand to his face and brushed fingers against his cheekbone. That took a lot of courage for him to admit. “That I’ll change my mind?” Of course. She should have seen that. It was there. The closer the wedding got, the more nervous he became. “Michael, I would marry you tomorrow. Today. We could run away and do this, if it makes you feel better, but I thought you wanted a big wedding. I was the one that wanted to elope, but you said it was important that all your brothers and sisters were there.”

Michael swore. This was fucking Jake’s fault. Therapy. He needed his head examined. Jake felt he needed to connect to his siblings, reach out to his parents. “I know. I don’t think I can make it.”

Maria frowned. “You know, I’d do anything for you. Anything you need. But maybe I need you to trust me. Believe that I’ll be there. Can’t you trust me that far?”

Michael closed his eyes. Maybe that was it. Trust. He felt a slight shift, and knew Maria had leaned toward him, even before he felt the caress of the long-fingered hand on his cheek, tracing a wandering path down to his throat.

“Do you trust me, Maria?”

Maria stopped her finger’s journey and her green eyes met his warm brown ones. Not blinking or even hesitating, Maria smiled, “With my life.” She leaned down again and kissed him. “It was never you I worried about. It’s me. I don’t know if I can trust myself. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Michael moved her hair off her face, and with his finger he traced a frown along her brow. “Are you afraid you’ll be like your father?” Michael held his breath at that question. His eyes searched her face, uncertain how she would take the question.

“Sometimes.” Maria licked her lips. “I have a theory. I think we give our children the best of us. What’s inside that is good and strong, that’s what we pass on.” Maria touched her heart. “My father…and my mother, they are the best of me. All I am that is good, I got from them.” Michael reached for her as her eyes filled with tears, but she eluded him. “Wait here. There’s something I want to share with you.”

Maria was off the bed, and Michael watched her as she dug through a cabinet. He frowned when she came back with a large album. “Make room.” Michael moved from the middle of the bed, and held out his arm as she snuggled in close to him. Opening the album, Maria pointed to a picture. “This is my mother. Her name was Amy.”

Michael looked at a beautiful young woman with a light brunette hair and brown eyes, and a smile so much like her daughter’s. She was hugging a small golden blonde child, and Michael smiled. He could see the love. The happiness. Amy DeLuca was a beautiful woman.

“This is my dad, Ben.” Michael searched the picture. It showed a tall man with light hair and startling green eyes. He had a slight cleft in his chin, and Maria’s dimples. He was carrying a young Maria on his shoulders with Maria’s mother close to his side, under his arm. Her family.

Michael let Maria show him her family pictures, as she told him all about her birthday parties, dance recitals, and a picture of her with a Dalmatian puppy with red sneakers with Kermit frogs on the side that were untied.

“That was the vacation to Hawaii . I stepped on a jellyfish. I still have the scar at the bottom of my foot.”

“You don’t have a scar.”

“Do too.”

Michael shook his head. “I’ve been all over your body. I know every tattoo, every scar, and every mole. There is no scar.”

“You missed that one!”

“Let me see.” Michael dived for her foot, and Maria squirmed away laughing. She was ticklish on her feet. They wrestled in the bedding.

Maria didn’t tell him about how her parents died. He was finally understanding that she didn’t want that to be the way she remembered them. Her family albums showed them as she wanted them to remain in her heart and memories. That was something he could respect, because in those smiling faces was all the love they had bestowed on their daughter. That was what really mattered, not a moment of unleashed insanity.

~~~

Michael slammed the phone down and cussed at it for good measure. Maria was reading a book, she looked at her irritated bridegroom. “What now?”

“That was Michelle.”

“Michelle? Which one is she?”

“Dad’s current, soon to be ex-wife. She thinks that the boys should stay with us this summer. Something about a good male role model would be good for them. I think Jason and Will are having problems since Hank left and she wants to shovel them off on us.”

“Good male role model?” Maria eyebrow lifted delicately. “Where are we going to find one of those? Do you think they’ll have them in the Yellow Pages?”

Michael grabbed her, tickling her until she begged for mercy. “Brat!” Michael moved her over and took over the sofa with her resting on him. “Guess Michelle is bringing the boys to the wedding. She asked if Hank was going to be there with ‘that tramp’, and that was a quote.”

“Figured as much. So what did you tell her?”

“The truth. Chances of Hank coming are slim to none. He’ll send his standard crystal punch bowl or something like that with an excuse of why he was too busy.”

“He might shock you.”

Michael made a face. “That scares me. Hank shocking me would be him in a pink thong and nothing else. Damn. Think I just made myself nauseous.”

“Hmm, does he have your body?”

“Maria!” Michael made a face at her. “Stop it! You’re only allowed to be a slut with me.”

“Yes, honey.” Maria blew the hair off his neck, nuzzling there. “So anything else buggin’ you?”

“Nope.” Michael paused. “Okay, yeah. Where the hell are we going to live? Here? Pacific Heights ? Or somewhere else?”

“Hmm, two days before the wedding, and now you want to talk domicile?”

“Look I have a confession…”

“Oh, this can’t be good.” Maria grabbed his head and kissed him soundly. “Are you going to confess a secret love of wearing women’s lingerie, because if you are, that’s okay with me.” Maria wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“Maria, no seriously...” Michael rubbed the back of his neck. “You know the large empty building that you were worried about? The one that was sold to an unknown buyer?”

Maria frowned. “The one next to Purdy’s bookstore?” Michael nodded. “What about it? Michael is this about the Coalition thing? You got the bid, and my involvement has ended.”

“No. It’s the building. I bought it.”

Maria sat up. “You bought it? Why? How?” Michael started to explain, but Maria stopped him. “How did you find the owner in China ? We looked for weeks and weeks!”

“He’s an old friend of Jim’s. We contacted his family and I bought the building.”

“Okay. Then why?”

“I’m going to move Valenti’s main offices down here. I was planning to renovate the building into something with a little old-world class, open work spaces, and bring my architecture group under the same roof.” Michael kissed Maria on the neck. “It also means I can just wander down the street for lunch with you when I’m at the office.”

“Oh, we are going to get so much work done!” Maria kissed his neck and moved her hand down his body. Playing with the buttons on his jeans, she unfastened a few.

“So are you going to tell me?”

“Hmm? What?” Maria said distractedly.

“You own all these buildings that the Coalition have been buying privately. Right? You’re the private party?”

Maria sat up and looked at him. Laughing, she shook her head. “No! I don’t have that kind of money. I own this building, and rent out store space to the others, but the other buildings? My parents left me some money, but nothing like that.”

Michael sat up. Frowning, he so sure it was her. “Then who is the private owner?”

Maria kissed him. “I shouldn’t tell you.”

“Maria…”

Giggling, Maria bit his lip, and then kissed it. “Tess. Tess owns them all.”

Michael sat up. Staring at Maria, his eyes narrowed. “Tess? Your Tess? No way! She just hit me up for a five for gas money!”

“Well, her money is sort of tied up in real estate right now. And she doesn’t have another quarterly trust fund payment for six more weeks. Add in that Kyle keeps winning all their bets. She’s sort of short of cash right now.”

“Tess? Where did she get the money? I thought her father was a Police Commissioner.”

“He is. Now her mother was a different story. Lots of old family wealth. She died when Tess was born, so her part of the inheritance went into a trust. We used as much as she had liquefied to buy the buildings.”

Michael sat back in shock. “Does Kyle know?”

“Hell no! He’d be trying to get her to invest in a gambling casino. Tess likes it that he thinks she’s a starving medical student, and not an heiress. She thinks it’s romantic the way he wants to take care of her.”

Michael rolled his eyes at that. “So this doesn’t solve our problem of where we’re living.”

Maria kissed his shoulder. “Tell you what. I don’t really care, as long as I’m with you.”

Michael mulled that over. He had bought his home in Pacific Heights for a faceless woman who would have his children. It was part of his ten year plan. Maria didn’t belong there. He wanted their home together to be something they both made together. Some place they both wanted and loved.

“I think I’ll sell my house. We can live here for a while, and maybe over the next year we can look for a home. A place we want to raise our kids.”

Maria moved her hands up his body. “Kids? That is an indistinct plural, buddy. We’ve already got the Peepers. How many are you talking about?” Michael looked around for the little furball. Mr. Peepers was a menace. He liked to sleep early in the evening, then around three A.M. wake up and bounce off the walls and the bed, and those sleeping in that bed. Of course Maria found that to be just as cute as whatever else he chose to do.

“More than one. I was pretty much an only child, and it was lonely.”

Maria had to agree. She had almost had a brother or sister, but she couldn’t think about that now. “Okay, so more than one, the total to be decided in the undisclosed future.”

“Sounds good.” Michael watched with interest as her hand moved down his body. Willing her not to stop, he made an encouraging sound in his throat along with a small movement of his hips. “I should skip the bachelor party tonight. Already had a few in my life.”

Maria looked up at him. Licking her bottom lip, she leaned down and kissed his naked stomach made bare by her roaming hands. “I think you should go! It’s the last one of your life, so you better enjoy it.”

Michael shrugged. Perhaps. There was a gleam of mischief in her eyes. Suddenly suspicious, his eyes narrowed. “What are you doing tonight while I’m getting shit faced and watching scantily clad women give lap dances?”

“Oh, the girls are taking me out for a bachelorette...damn is that even a word?...party. Nothing too racy.”

“Where?”

“Downtown. I don’t know someplace called, ‘Studs’ or something like that.”

Michael sat up. “That place has male strippers. Real strippers. Full Monty.”

“Oh! Goody!”

“Who picked this place?”

“Tess.” Michael swore. Tess! He should’ve known. Hated her. She was a damn nuisance.

~~~

It was late. The air was perfumed and sweet. Lying in bed looking out the open terrace windows as the breeze came in from the ocean, Michael sighed and held Maria close. They had lit some candles, and most of them were almost burned out. Moving his hand down her arm, he joined his fingers to hers. Their matching rings shining from the candle light. Nuzzling in her hair, he let her sleep.

No family. No Tess. No Kyle. And especially, no Mr. Peepers. The kitten was the hard one. Maria took him everywhere. She treated him like a newborn child. Even in their rescue of Liz, Tess, and Kyle, Maria had taken the new kitten, because he was just a baby and couldn’t be left alone. Michael rolled his eyes. The damn furball was menace, chewing his way through socks, and jumping off the walls in the middle of the night. He was cute, but he was also Serena and Jim’s problem for the next two weeks.

The wedding was a disaster. Chaos was more organized. The only thing that went well was the actual ceremony. Maria looked incredible. She showed up on time, and stood at the back of the church waiting to walk down the aisle. She stood there for the so long, that he wasn’t sure she wasn’t going to run. Finally she gestured for him to come to her. The entire church had gone silent. After six failed engagements, most of them were prepared to have this one cancelled as well. They watched as Maria reached up and whispered into Michael’s ear.

It was shocking when suddenly he leaned down and kissed her hard and long. It was the coughing and shifting of bodies that finally broke them apart. She didn’t have anyone to give her away. The honor should have been her father’s, and somehow Maria couldn’t stand for anyone to replace him so she had planned to go it alone. But when looking down that long walk towards Michael, she froze. It felt wrong. She didn’t want to walk to him, she wanted to walk with him. So when Michael came to her, she asked him if he would walk with her down the aisle.

The rest of the ceremony, Michael actually breathed easier. Not even the ‘I do’ was a problem. The cheering after they were announced man and wife, especially from his side of the church, was sort of humiliating, but Maria was his wife so he could handle it. He did glare at the few people who said ‘About time!’ and the passing of money to pay off bets was indiscreet. The preacher’s ‘Thank God!’ was also duly noted, and not appreciated.

The rest of the wedding was a nightmare. A reception made in hell by his family. His father showed up with a tarty Carla on his arm, a suntan, a smile and no shame. Michelle was shooting daggers at him, pouring glasses of champagne on Carla, and the boys were hugging Hank’s legs hard. Add in Hank’s other ex-wife who brought Michael’s seventeen year old sister, Ashley, the fun was too much for Michael. Pierce showed up, and Serena sneered at him while the girls, Jillian and Leah, tried to talk him out of cash. His parents were actually civil to each other, except that Serena made Michael introduce his father to her, pretending not to recognize him because and oh, hadn’t the years been rough on him. Serena was sure Michael took more after her, and would age much more gracefully, or so she assured Maria.

Circus people. He had forced Maria to marry into a family of circus people! She took it well. Michael figured if his freakish family didn’t send her screaming and seeking a divorce or an annulment, that there was little else left in the world he could do that would remove her from his side. From his way of thinking, Maria was a little whacked herself, except in her choice to marry him. She insisted on Mr. Peepers being at the wedding, and the small kitten was carried down the aisle in a basket with a pink ribbon around his neck which was irritating him. He therefore jumped out of the basket and bounced around the church like something from a cartoon.

Sighing, Michael closed his eyes. Never again.

“What’s wrong?” What could be wrong? They escaped San Francisco for two weeks of honeymoon bliss away from the maddening crowd.

Michael kissed her head. “Nothing. We’re alone. Perfect.”

Maria made a sound in her throat and turned in his arms so she was facing him. Kissing his chest, she moved against his skin. A frown suddenly marred her face. Sitting up a little despite Michael’s move to pull her back to him, Maria put her hand on his chest.

“Michael?”

“Hmm? Come back here.”

“Michael, you forgot something.”

“No, I didn’t leave the coffeemaker on. Tess is there. She’ll turn off the oven. Everything is taken care of except me. Come here.”

Maria held him off. “Not that! The prenuptial agreement. You forgot the prenuptial agreement.”

Michael reached up and pulled her back down into the bed. “No, I didn’t.”

“I didn’t sign one.” Maria said softly as she closed her eyes as he nuzzled in her neck.

“I know.” Michael kissed her neck and moved towards her mouth. “Didn’t need one. I’m not planning on letting you divorce me.” He gazed into her eyes Maria’s sparkled back at him with tears.

“Till death do us part?” she asked quietly. It made Michael think of her parents, and he was sure she was thinking of them too.

“I do.” Michael took her hand and kissed it. “We’ll do it right. I promise.”

“Absolutely?”

“Absolutely. Trust me. I trust you.”

The End